Food Is Medicine · North Carolina

North Carolina's path to covered nutrition.

The nation's first comprehensive Medicaid program to pay for evidence-based non-medical services — including food — with measured cost savings.

The Program

Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP)

North Carolina's Healthy Opportunities Pilots is the nation's first comprehensive program to test and evaluate paying for non-medical interventions — food, housing, transportation, and interpersonal safety — for high-need Medicaid enrollees, authorized under the state's 1115 waiver with up to $650 million in federal funding.

A June 2026 NCDHHS evaluation found HOP reduced healthcare costs by an average of $164 per member per month. Note: the North Carolina General Assembly did not fund continued operations after July 1, 2025, so the program suspended operations; the state is pursuing a waiver renewal and statewide expansion.

Nutrition services covered

  • Healthy food box delivery
  • Medically tailored meals
  • Produce prescriptions
  • Food insecurity case management
Source

NCDHHS — Healthy Opportunities Pilots

Read the source ↗

Planning a nutrition benefit in North Carolina?

FareRx partners with health plans and employers to deliver medically tailored groceries that members actually use — with first-party outcomes to prove it. See how we plug into a Medicaid or commercial nutrition benefit.